Papers

20 results
|
Article Tier 2

Strategies for determining heteroaggregation attachment efficiencies of engineered nanoparticles in aquatic environments

Researchers developed strategies for determining heteroaggregation attachment efficiencies of engineered nanoparticles with suspended particulate matter in aquatic environments, providing a practical roadmap for understanding nanoparticle fate in natural water systems.

2020 Environmental Science Nano 85 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics Aggregation in Environment: Analytical Methods and Environmental Implications

This review examines how nanoplastics aggregate in the environment—clumping together or attaching to other particles—and how this affects their analysis and ecological impact. Aggregation changes how nanoplastics move through water and accumulate in organisms, complicating risk assessment for these extremely small plastic particles.

2021 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science
Article Tier 2

Effect of the Surface Hydrophobicity–Morphology–Functionality of Nanoplastics on Their Homoaggregation in Seawater

Researchers found that nanoplastic surface hydrophobicity, morphology, and functional chemistry strongly govern homoaggregation behavior in aquatic environments, with more hydrophobic and functionalized particles forming larger, faster-settling aggregates that alter their environmental fate and bioavailability.

2022 ACS ES&T Water 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Hybrid modeling of hetero-agglomeration processes: a framework for model selection and arrangement

Researchers developed a hybrid modeling framework for hetero-agglomeration processes — the clumping together of different particle types — to better predict how microplastics interact with natural particles in aquatic environments. The framework helps select appropriate models for different environmental conditions and particle combinations.

2023 Engineering With Computers 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Prediction of nanoplastics aggregation in wastewaters

Researchers modeled how nanoplastic particles from degraded plastic waste aggregate in wastewater under different conditions. Understanding aggregation behavior is key to predicting how nanoplastics move through water treatment systems and ultimately whether they reach drinking water sources.

2023 Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Sedimentation behavior of aggregated microplastics: Influence of particle size and water constituents in environmental waters

Laboratory experiments investigated how aggregation of microplastics with sediments and organic matter affects their sinking rates in water, finding that aggregate composition strongly influences settling velocity. These findings improve models predicting whether microplastics sink to the seafloor or remain suspended in the water column.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Statistical Thermodynamic Description of Heteroaggregation between Anthropogenic Particulate Matter and Natural Particles in Aquatic Environments

Researchers developed a thermodynamic model to describe how nanoparticles and microplastics aggregate with each other and with natural particles in aquatic environments. Understanding aggregation processes is critical for predicting how microplastics move through water systems and where they ultimately settle.

2021 ACS Earth and Space Chemistry 9 citations
Article Tier 2

The environmental fate of nanoplastics: What we know and what we need to know about aggregation

Researchers systematically analyzed experimental studies on nanoplastic aggregation behavior, evaluating the environmental relevance of 377 solution chemistries and 163 particle models. The study found that commonly used polymer latex spheres do not accurately represent real-world nanoplastics, and suggests that incidentally produced nanoplastics may be more sensitive to heteroaggregation than previously expected.

2023 NanoImpact 129 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoparticle Heteroagglomeration with Natural and Synthetic Suspended Particulate Matter

Researchers reviewed nanoparticle heteroagglomeration with natural and synthetic suspended particulate matter in aquatic environments, examining how the kinetics of agglomeration between nanoplastics, manufactured nanomaterials, and SPM affect nanoparticle transport and risk assessment in river systems.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of microplastics aggregation in aquatic environment: Influence factors, analytical methods, and environmental implications

This review examines how microplastics clump together in aquatic environments, a behavior called aggregation that affects where they end up and how available they are to organisms. Researchers evaluated the factors that influence aggregation, including water chemistry, particle size, and the presence of natural organic matter. The study identifies important gaps in field research and calls for standardized methods to better understand how aggregation shapes the environmental fate of microplastics.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 353 citations
Article Tier 2

Heteroaggregation kinetics of nanoplastics and soot nanoparticles in aquatic environments

Researchers examined how polystyrene nanoplastics and soot particles aggregate together in aquatic environments, finding that particle ratio, salinity, pH, and dissolved organic matter all influence clumping rates — with calcium ions dramatically accelerating aggregation and potentially altering nanoplastic transport in coastal and marine waters.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics display strong stability in aqueous environments: Insights from aggregation behaviour and theoretical calculations

Nanoplastics released into aquatic environments were found to be highly stable and resist aggregation and settling under many conditions, meaning they can persist and disperse widely rather than quickly sinking. This environmental stability makes nanoplastics particularly concerning as long-lived and mobile contaminants in water systems.

2019 Environmental Pollution 187 citations
Article Tier 2

Modeling the evolution of nanoplastic particle aggregation in aquatic systems

Researchers developed a mathematical model to simulate how nanoplastic particles aggregate over time in freshwater and marine aquatic systems as a function of particle size, ionic strength, pH, and organic matter concentration. The model predicted that nanoplastics aggregate rapidly under typical estuarine salinity conditions, transitioning from colloidal to settling-sized clusters within hours.

2025
Article Tier 2

Effects of size and surface charge on the sedimentation of nanoplastics in freshwater

Researchers investigated how size and surface charge of polystyrene nanoplastics affect their sedimentation behavior in freshwater, finding that both properties significantly influence aggregation dynamics and settling rates, with implications for predicting nanoplastic fate in aquatic environments.

2023 Chemosphere 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Sediment organic carbon dominates the heteroaggregation of suspended sediment and nanoplastics in natural and surfactant-polluted aquatic environments

Researchers found that sediment organic carbon plays a dominant role in the heteroaggregation of nanoplastics with suspended sediment particles, with surfactant pollution altering aggregation dynamics and influencing the environmental transport and fate of nanoplastics in aquatic systems.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent Advances in the Aggregation Behavior of Nanoplastics in Aquatic Systems

This review examines recent advances in understanding nanoplastic aggregation behavior in aquatic systems, focusing on how polymer surface modification and the use of novel surfactants can be designed to promote aggregation of nanoplastics from the environment. The review distinguishes this approach from conventional surfactant use aimed at dispersing insoluble compounds.

2023 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Heteroaggregation kinetics of oppositely charged nanoplastics in aquatic environments: Effects of particle ratio, solution chemistry, and interaction sequence

Researchers investigated how oppositely charged nanoplastics clump together (heteroaggregation) in water under varying pH, salt, and natural organic matter conditions, finding that electrostatic attraction drives aggregation but humic acid retards it more than sodium alginate, while the sequence and timing of chemical interactions also significantly alters the final aggregation behavior.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Heterogeneous aggregation of microplastics and mineral particles in aquatic environments: Effects of surface functional groups, pH, and electrolytes

Researchers studied how microplastics clump together with soil and rock minerals in water, finding that positively charged minerals bound to plastic particles nearly three times more effectively than clay minerals, and that low pH and calcium ions dramatically accelerated aggregation. Understanding these dynamics helps predict where microplastics will settle or stay suspended in rivers, lakes, and aquifers.

2025 Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Experimental study on parameterizing microplastic-sediment aggregation

Researchers conducted laboratory flocculation experiments to parameterize microplastic-sediment aggregation, testing fibers, fragments, and spheres of varying sizes and densities to characterize how microplastics and sediment form flocs with enhanced settling velocity, with the goal of improving numerical transport models of microplastic fate in rivers and estuaries.

2025
Article Tier 2

How do microplastics interact with other particles in aquatic environments?

This study investigates how microplastics interact with other particles in aquatic environments, examining the physical and chemical mechanisms governing aggregation, adsorption, and co-transport of microplastics with suspended particles. The research is hosted on the Experiment platform for open scientific discovery funding and sharing.

2024